Two-way synchronization of media data

• US 7,475,078 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2006
• Issued: 01/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Novak, Michael J., Larkin, Kevin P., Kiilerich, Dennis A.
• Primary Examiner(s): LEROUX, ETIENNE PIERRE
• Application Number:
  US11/420,989
• Publication Number:
  US 20070282848A1
• Time in Patent Office: 952 Days
• Field of Search: 707/2, 707/3, 707/10, 707/203
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4387 by the use of playlists

Abstract

A system and method for retrieving media data from a portable media device for storage on a client computer during synchronization between the portable media device and the client computer. A media player application (MPA) identifies media data on the portable media device that has been modified since a last synchronization process, and automatically or selectively retrieves the modified and/or unmodified media data from the portable media device for storage on the client computer.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for transferring media data from a portable device to a client computer during a synchronization process, said portable device storing media data associated with a plurality of media files, said method comprising:

identifying one or more of the plurality of media files on the portable device having media data that has been modified since a last synchronization process, wherein at least one of the identified media files has media data that has been modified since a last synchronization process and media data that has been unmodified since said last synchronization process;

identifying the media data of the modified media files that has been modified since the last synchronization process;

retrieving the identified media data for each identified media file, wherein only the media data that has been modified since the last synchronization process is retrieved for the at least one media file having the modified media data and the unmodified media data; and

storing the retrieved media data from the portable device on the client computer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying includes requesting a transaction report from the portable device, said transaction report specifying each of the one or more plurality of media files having media data that has been modified since the last synchronization process.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of media files are assigned a transaction parameter value when initially stored on the portable device, and wherein the transaction parameter value for a particular one of the plurality of media files is increased by a predetermined amount when the media data associated with that particular media file is modified on the portable device, and wherein the transaction report specifies each of the one or more plurality of media files having an increased transaction parameter value since the last synchronization process.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the retrieving includes retrieving the modified media data for each of the one or more media files specified in the transaction report, wherein only the media data that has been modified since the last synchronization process is retrieved for the at least one media file having the modified media data and the unmodified media data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the client computer stores a first time stamp specifying a time of the last synchronization process, and wherein the client computer stores a second time stamp specifying a time of a current synchronization process, and wherein the identifying includes identifying one or more of the plurality of media files stored on the portable device having media data that has been modified between the times specified by the first and second time stamps.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the retrieving includes retrieving only a portion of the media data of each of the identified one or more media files during the current synchronization process that has been modified since the last synchronization process, and wherein the storing includes merging the retrieved modified portion of the media data with the media data retrieved during the last synchronization process.

7. The method of claim 1 further including displaying each of the identified media files to a user via a display associated with the client computer, and wherein retrieving includes selectively retrieving media data for one or more of the displayed media files in response to input received from the user, wherein only the media data that has been modified since the last synchronization process is retrieved for the at least one media file having the modified media data and the unmodified media data.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising querying the portable device to identify a new media file stored on the portable device since the last synchronization process, retrieving new media data for the new media file, and storing the new media data on the client computer.

9. The method of claim 1 further including receiving input from a user defining a list of media files to monitor from the plurality of media files, and wherein the identifying includes identifying one or more media files in the defined list of media files having media data that has changed since the last synchronization process.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving media data includes retrieving media file data and associated metadata.

11. One or more computer-readable media having computer executable components executed by a client computer for transferring media data from a portable device to the client computer during a current synchronization process, said portable device storing media data associated with a plurality of media files, said computer-readable media comprising:

an identification component for identifying one or more of the plurality of media files having different media data since a last synchronization process and for identifying the media data that is different since the last synchronization process, wherein at least one of the identified media files has different media data that has been added or modified since a last synchronization process and existing media data the portable device has been storing since before said last synchronization process was completed;

a retrieval component for retrieving the different media data for each of the identified one or more media files, wherein only the media data that has been added since the last synchronization process is retrieved for the at least one media file having the added media data and the existing media data; and

a storage component for storing the different media data on the client computer.

12. The computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the client computer stores an existing transaction report identifying an existing transaction ID value for each of a first list media files stored on the client computer, and wherein the retrieval component retrieves a current transaction report from the portable device identifying a current transaction ID value for each of a second list media files, and wherein the identification component compares the existing transaction ID value for each of the first list media files to the current transaction ID value for each of the second list media files to identify new media files and modified media files.

13. The computer-readable media of claim 12, wherein the retrieval component additionally retrieves all of the media data associated with of each of the one or more media files identified as new during the current synchronization process.

14. The computer-readable media of claim 12, wherein the retrieval component includes retrieving only a modified portion of the media data of each of the one or more media files identified as modified during the current synchronization process, and wherein the storage component merges the retrieved modified portion of the media data with the media data retrieved during the last synchronization process.

15. The computer-readable media of claim 11 further comprising a user interface component that is responsive to the identification component for displaying each of the identified one or more of the plurality of media files having different media data since the last synchronization process.

16. The computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein user interface component provides a user interface for allowing user interaction with the displayed media files, and wherein the retrieval component is responsive to user input selecting one or more of the displayed media files via the user interface to only retrieve media data associated with the selected one or more media files, and wherein the user interface is responsive to the storage component storing the different media data on the client computer to display a delete option control for allowing the user to delete the selected one or more files from the portable media device.

17. The computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the user interface component alerts the user if media data associated with the selected media file is currently stored on the client computer.

18. A system for transferring media data from a portable device to the client computer during a synchronization process, said portable device storing media data associated with a plurality of media files, said system comprising:

an user interface, associated with the client computer, for generating a retrieval request in response to input from a user, said retrieval request requesting the retrieval of media data from the portable media device for storage on the client computer;

a processor, associated with the client, for executing computer-executable instructions for;

requesting a current transaction report from the portable device, said transaction report specifying a current transaction ID value for each of a first list media files stored on the portable device;

retrieving the current transaction report from the portable device; and

comparing the current transaction ID value for each of the first list of media files included in the retrieved transaction report with an existing transaction ID value for each of a second list of media files specified in an existing transaction report stored on the client computer to identify one or more media files on the portable device having different media data that has been added or modified since a last synchronization process, at least one of said media files also having existing media data that the portable device has been storing since before said last synchronization process was completed; and

wherein the user interface, associated with the client computer, further displays each of the one or more identified media files and wherein the user interface is responsive to input received from the user to retrieve only the different media data for said at least one media file when said media file is selected by the user via the user interface.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the user interface is further responsive to different input from the user specifying one or more preferred media files to retrieve the different media data for each of the preferred one or more media files.